II was a sad occasion last week for St. Florence when the village's sub-postmistress, Mrs. Enid Roberts, retired after 34 years service.
The new Post Office is now relocated in the Village Shop run by Mike and Debbie Preece and most of the services will be provided as before with the exception in the interim of pensions and benefits obtained via Post Office cards.
These will be available on Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons. This reorganisation sadly reflects the pressures on all rural Post Offices. St. Florence is no exception and will have to fight to support the village shop and use the postal services which are still available to the community.
To mark Mrs. Roberts's retirement, the Village Association organised a collection and on her last day in service a cheque for £900 was presented to her, together with flowers and a card by local watercolour artist Del Evans. In deference to Mrs. Roberts's wishes, the presentation was deliberately kept low-key and was made by the chairman of the community council, together with the chairman and treasurer of the Village Association.
As Paul Rich, chairman of the association, said after the presentation: "We are delighted, but not altogether surprised at the response of the community, and the sum collected reflects the esteem and appreciation which we have had for Mrs. Roberts's work over the past 34 years."